CASNR NewsCenter

Putting Down Roots; CASNR students participate in Arbor Day activities

By: Norman Martin

Texas Tech's College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources marked its celebration
of sustainability and community this week with its Arbor Day event on Friday (Apr. 26). The event, which featured 10 CASNR organizations, is a partnership among Student
Union & Activities, Center for Campus Life, Grounds Maintenance, Hospitality Services,
Recreational Sports, Student Activities Board, Transportation & Parking Services,
TTU Ethics Center, and the Operations Division.

"Arbor Day provides an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to join together
to beautify the Tech campus, while building a sense of community," said CASNR Dean
William Brown. Live music, free food and t-shirts, and planting alongside other Red Raiders makes
the event one of Tech's most anticipated events.

CASNR organizations participating in the annual campus-wide program include:

When Texas Tech was founded in the 1920s, most of the funds went towards the buildings,
but the campus was lacking landscape. In 1937, President Bradford Knapp decided to
dedicate one day every spring to beautify the campus. He proclaimed to the university
that one day every spring Texas Tech faculty, students and anyone who could lend a
hand would help plant trees and shrubs around campus.

The day was carried out in true West Texas fashion. Knapp, State Sen. G.H. Nelson, Business Manager W.T. Gaston, Superintendent of Buildings J.H. Grimsley and other administrators supervised the work on horseback. Home economics students
in long dresses and sunbonnets rode in covered wagons to hand out coffee and doughnuts
to the volunteers who were planting.

Although it was a great celebration for one day of the year, caring for the trees
and shrubs became difficult for the other 364 days of the year due to the inadequate
water supply. Most of the plants died, leaving the Texas Tech campus as the typical
West Texas land it's known for. The tradition lasted only 10 years, ending in 1948,
until it was resurrected in the late 1990s by former Texas Tech Chancellor John Montford.

The annual Arbor Day tradition has grown exponentially since then. Today, more than
160 student organizations participate in the planting process and help the university's
grounds maintenance department tend to the landscape across campus.

CONTACT: William Brown, Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources,
Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or william.f.brown@ttu.edu